By the GvilleTX Newsroom
The Sherman Planning and Zoning Commission approved a site plan for a SpaceX antenna yard in the Midway Mall parking lot on Aug. 18, advancing a corporate infrastructure project aimed at boosting regional broadband without triggering a public rezoning process.
The commission's consent-agenda vote allows Space Exploration Technologies Corp. to install satellite earth station antennas on a roughly 43-acre commercial tract at 4800 Texoma Parkway. Because the city processed the application as a routine development review for land already zoned for general commercial use, the project avoided the variance hearings and zoning debates that often govern new construction in North Texas.
The local application identifies Star Midway LLC as the property owner, with Victoria Scott acting as the representative and Old Republic handling the surveying.
SpaceX told Sherman officials the new ground facility will improve local internet capacity for streaming, video calls, and heavy data demands. The corporation also made clear that the local government has little authority to alter or block the project. In its application packet, SpaceX cited Federal Communications Commission preemption rules, asserting that cities cannot enforce discretionary land-use regulations against these specific satellite installations. The company noted the proposed antennas measure less than two meters across.
That federal regulatory shield leaves local authorities managing the paperwork rather than weighing the merits of the land use. The administrative track in Sherman contrasts with how nearby Cooke County communities handle unique commercial footprints. In Gainesville, a special-use permit requires a $600 application fee and faces public scrutiny from both the planning commission and the full city council. Sherman’s fee schedule charges $150 for small site plans and scales up for larger tracts, capping out at $2,500. Next door in Denison, planners charge a base rate of $400 plus a per-acre fee for similar reviews.
The Sherman installation ties a local parking lot to a vast, privately controlled network. Starlink operates roughly 7,800 satellites in orbit, according to company updates, and the federal government recently granted partial approval for SpaceX to adjust the frequencies and orbital parameters for a fleet of 7,500 second-generation satellites. The company states it is deploying upgraded ground stations to increase network speed for consumers.
Federal filings outline the technical scope of the Sherman site. SpaceX submitted a license application to run a fixed transmit-receive earth station operating across the Ka, V, E, and W frequency bands. Alongside the standard application, which carried a $425 federal fee, the company filed a request for 60 days of temporary authority to begin operating the Sherman facility on a non-interference basis as early as Aug. 20. The applicant notified Sherman that federal rules require a final decision on the authorization by late October.
_Editor's note: Everyone charged with a crime is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law._
Join the conversation
Comments